I just completed my first brew, a new castle brown ale clone. It turned out really good and we just dumped the yeast cake. We have a kolsch that's almost ready and a stout that we just cooked. What can we do with the yeast cake? I've heard all kinds of things. Just trying to get some ideas

I've heard of pitching another beer on it. Am I still required to buy a little bit of yeast to go along with it? And if so, does it need to be the same exact strand or just somewhat similar? I've also heard you can use the yeast cake to make dough. Is that true? Or just some bull**** story someone came up with to make me look like a jackass?

Most would just pitch the wort right on top w/o new yeast. You may also wash the yeast and fridge for a month or two (I use a capped bottle). Never made a dough of it but it may work if you're a baker.

Most would just pitch the wort right on top w/o new yeast. You may also wash the yeast and fridge for a month or two (I use a capped bottle). Never made a dough of it but it may work if you're a baker.

You say to wash the yeast before fridging it. How do you do that without losing half your yeast? And if you do that, can you use the yeast from a stout for an ale? I probably sound kinda dumb for asking all these questions, but I don't really want to waste $40 on ingredients just to ruin the beer with a yeast that won't work. Like I said, all tips are welcome.

Rack the final beer to 2ndary, keg or bottle bucket. Add about a quart of tap water to the yeast cake and stir. After fifteen minutes funnel into 3+ sanitized beer bottles, cap and label. On next brew day I crack cap when starting mash and just dump in wort after cooldown. Worked for me a 20/20. Others may say you need more complication or safety measure and that is fine.

Rack the final beer to 2ndary, keg or bottle bucket. Add about a quart of tap water to the yeast cake and stir. After fifteen minutes funnel into 3+ sanitized beer bottles, cap and label. On next brew day I crack cap when starting mash and just dump in wort after cooldown. Worked for me a 20/20. Others may say you need more complication or safety measure and that is fine.

I agree with Mr. Penguin and put another beer on it. Try to do one that is somewhat close to the SRM of the previous beer. And no, you shall not need to add any more yeast. That slurry is packed with healthy yeast. I often time out my brew and rack time so that I can utilize the yeast as it is plentiful and cost effective, as those lil' vials and starters, etc can get pricey. So use what ya got! Also, putting the beer down on the cake will be beneficial as the yeast count is high, as a lot of home brewers under pitch anyway. If needs be I'll back that up with an easy equation and table of Different possible sources. My source on this is in Ray Daniels book "Designing Great Beers". This text is worth EVERY penny spent on it in my opinion. Good luck and happy brewing.

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So pour directly onto the yeast cake that's settled on the bottom? No washing? Just dump it right on the yeast cake, trub and all?

The reason I ask is I'd like to use a trappist yeast for my tripel and also my RIS and if I can dump the high gravity RIS right into the fermenter after racking, that would save some time and money. It'd also give me a hell of a starter. The trub won't give me any off flavors? Will the yeast be upset if sitting on a ~1.017FG and having a ~1.105OG dumped on it?